Adopted by Bay Area Labor Councils Dec 18, 2000
WHEREAS the longshore workers of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1422 and Local 1771, like all workers, have a right to picket in defense of their jobs; and
WHEREAS the State of South Carolina purposefully provoked a confrontation Jan. 20, 2000 by sending in 600 riot-equipped police officers against both Locals’ pickets who were protesting a Danish ship using scabs to do work previously done by the longshore unions and then charged five union members with felony “incite to riot” charges punishable by up to five years in prison; and
WHEREAS no union, local or union members should be held financially responsible for employer losses when engaging in legal industrial actions in defense of their jobs; and
WHEREAS Winyah Stevedoring Inc. , the company that hired the scab labor in the Port of Charleston, is suing the Charleston ILA locals, the locals’ presidents and 27 individual members for $1. 5 million in alleged financial losses incurred because of the picketing; and
WHEREAS if successful, these criminal charges and the civil lawsuit will have a chilling effect internationally on the struggle of trade unions attempting to defend themselves against WTO-style union busting; and
WHEREAS the State of South Carolina is a right-to-work state with the lowest rate (3. 8 percent) of unionization in the country and the only state to fight to keep flying the Confederate flag at its state capitol, another target of protest by the membership of ILA Local 1422 which is more than 99 percent African American; and
WHEREAS the American labor movement defends workers rights and civil rights for all people;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that[ ORGANIZATION’S NAME] joins in the national movement in support of the Charleston longshore workers, formally endorses the campaign and demands the state drop the criminal charges against the Charleston 5 and that WSI drop the civil lawsuit against both locals and their members; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that [ORGANIZATION’S NAME] send a letter to the South Carolina Attorney General Charles Condon demanding the criminal charges be dropped and one to WSI demanding it vacate its civil lawsuit; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that [ORGANIZATION’S NAME] contribute financially to the defense of the Charleston 5; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that [ORGANIZATION’S NAME] encourage all its members to join or form the Local Charleston Defense Committee in its area in this campaign for workers’ rights, contributing to the defense fund and joining in the planned international day of action against the state and the rogue employer.
